Yay Friendship! The Music Edition? Yup!

If you haven’t yet, sign up for my Yay Friendship! Newsletter. I want to share interesting things I come across and that I believe will add value to your life. Plus, it’s a good way to stay in touch. It’s pretty much the next best thing to getting a Hug and High Five from me. Here’s the February Edition that went out earlier this month.

Hello amigos. Greetings from Sao Paulo! It’s the last stop of my “Eric Travels Around The World to Reflect…and Take Dope Instagram Pics“ World Tour.

I enjoy travel and am very lucky to get to do it often. So I surprised a few folks last year when I railed against the “Wanderlust” generation. Look, travel is great. But it has to serve a purpose. Traveling as a form of escape or as an end is silly and counterproductive. Don’t give me that “I want to find myself” crap either. Aren’t you with yourself when you’re at home? If you really want to reflect and find your equilibrium do as Marcus Aurelius said and “go within.” Turn off your WiFi, grab a notebook and sit still in your room for a day. Seriously, try it. It’s difficult. But only by going within can you really find yourself.

/rant

Anywho, I spent a lot of time by myself while on these travels (that was on purpose) and as such, I got to read some good stuff. Here are some recco’s:

I know Bill Belichick isn’t very popular with the crew (loving the crew), but I guarantee you’ll have incredible respect for his work ethic, philosophy and achievements if you read David Habelstram’s book. One of the recurring themes in the book is the importance of the little details,

“He (Belichick) understood that the key to success, the secret to it, was the mastery of the grunt work, all the little details.”

Bill Walsh won three Super Bowls as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. In this book, he and co-author Steve Jamison highlight his leadership philosophy. It’s a fantastic read with actionable and practical advice for anyone in a leadership position. I think it’s one of those books I’ll reference time and time again.

Tyler Cowen’s book is a primer on the economic future of America. Basically, machines will replace a bunch of tedious jobs. But, they will also make education more accesible. Thus machines will make it possible for more and more people to move from poverty to wealth. But the determining factor in success will be self-discipline and self-control. IE, can you make the time to study all this free ish provided by really smart machines? Really, really good.

So Zac and American Authors actually released their newest single, “Pride” in December. And I totally forgot to mention it in last month’s newsletter. My bad bros. Besides working on new music, the band also performed at the halftime show of the AFC Championship Game and at the pre-party of Clemson-Alabama College Championship Game.

Over on the left coast, my friend and mentor DeNiro Forte helped pull together HUNTR, a new hip-hop collective. The band is comprised of his brother, the artist Gilbere Forté, producer Raak, drummer Nick, DJ Helly and Boris, who ‘Bere says “plays the guitar amongst other things.” Stoked for the ensemble and for their new music.

So one day Matt Daniels texts me like “hey I’ll be working out of the Google office in Chelsea. Wanna do lunch?’ I was like “que? Of course!” Turns out Matt is collabing with YouTube on some sweet music/ data projects. He just did this article examining YouTube songs with over one billion views. More to come!

How are y’all doing? What are you guys most excited about? LMK so I can share. And of course, LMK if I can help!